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News and Announcements

On July 1, 2015, Professor Joshua Tucker was appointed the Dean’s Assistant Professor of Music “in recognition of [his] accomplishments as a scholar and teacher.” This named professorship is a distinguishing honor, and Professor Tucker’s work in the Music Department as a teacher, advisor, and researcher certainly reflects his merits.

Brown University’s 247th Commencement on May 24th, 2015 was decorated with the sounds of celebration: echoes of amplified speeches, waves of applause, shouts of congratulations, and of course the traditional chorus of the Brown Alma Mater. This year, however, the original song was followed by a new commission, the bluesy R&B “Brown Alma Mater 250,” composed by Music Department Chair Butch Rovan. The surprise performance closed the university’s250th anniversary celebration with one last melodious firework of energy and cheer.

On Saturday, April 18, 2015 the Brown Sacred Harp Singers and other organizers from the Rhode Island singing community joined forces to host the 12th annual Rhode Island All-Day Sacred Harp Singing. Over 120 singers from around the country participated in a full day of high-energy singing from the American shape-note tune book The Sacred Harp (first published in 1844).

The Brown University Department of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of two new Assistant Professors in Composition and Theory. Wang Lu (DMA Columbia 2012) and Eric Nathan (DMA Cornell 2012) will officially join the department July 1, 2015 and begin teaching in the department this coming fall. Prof. Wang Lu and Prof. Nathan both share expertise in acoustic composition, electro-acoustic composition, and theory and analysis. They join Brown with an impressive track record of commissions and honors, including two Guggenheims and one Rome Prize.

The Library of Congress has selected 25 recordings to add to its National Recording Registry, includingOld Regular Baptists: Lined-Out Hymnody from Southeastern Kentucky [Smithsonian Folkways - 1997] which features the Indian Bottom Association and was recorded by Professor Emeritus of Music Jeff Todd Titon.